This invention relates to an optical simulator and more particularly to a simulator for enabling persons with normal vision to be subjected to a reduced peripheral field of vision. There is a great deal of research being done in the field of optical aids for the visually impaired. Certain eye diseases like Retinitus Pigmentosa Glaucoma and Optical Atrophy, for example, cause the patients to have an extremely reduced peripheral field of view. In extreme cases such diseases can cause tunnel vision. This reduced field of view may exist at the same time that the patient exhibits a good and useful central vision. This is expecially true in Retinitus Pigmentosa.
The above eye diseases cause the persons afflicted to exhibit difficulty in walking and, in general, in navigating. While these diseases can be extremely debilitating, and, essentially the patient must learn to use the limited field of vision to survive and to participate in relatively normal activities. Up to the present, it was desirable to demonstrate this condition of tunnel vision to a relative or friend accompanying the patient to the doctor. In attempting to explain to the relative or friend the condition, the physician used a tube device which had a small aperture. The device was placed in front of one eye to demonstrate the condition. The other eye was blanked out with a suitable cover.
It is, of course, understood that the above technique provided an extremely superficial demonstration of the actual visual handicap. In order to accurately simulate the condition, both for relatives and friends of people so afflicted and for providing further research into the problem, there is a need for an accurate simulator which can reliably simulate the tunnel vision defect to a person having a normal field of vision. It is, therefore, an objective of the present invention to provide a binocular simulator capable of reducing the field of vision of a normal person to enable that person to experience the tunnel vision defect.